Fitchburg man found guilty in 1974 murder

Friday

Feb 24, 2012 at 1:00 PMFeb 24, 2012 at 6:27 PM

It was a moment Clara J. Provost's family has been awaiting for 38 long years. The wait was over shortly after 12:30 p.m. today when a Worcester Superior Court jury found Ronald C. Dame guilty of first-degree murder in the 1974, slaying of Ms. Provost in the Fitchburg apartment she shared with her 3-year-old son.

By Gary V. Murray TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

It was a moment Clara J. Provost's family had been awaiting for 38 long years.

The wait was over shortly after 12:30 p.m. today when a Worcester Superior Court jury found Ronald C. Dame guilty of first-degree murder in the Jan. 6, 1974, slaying of the 23-year-old Ms. Provost in her apartment at 13 Highland Ave., in Fitchburg.

The jury of seven women and five men found that the killing of Ms. Provost, whose throat was slashed, was extremely cruel or atrocious, one of the prosecution's three theories of first-degree murder in the case.

Judge Richard T. Tucker postponed sentencing until Tuesday morning. Mr. Dame, now 65 years old, is facing a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment without parole.

The jury deliberated for about 5-1/2 hours over two days before reaching its verdict.

“We're very happy and relieved,” said Ms. Provost's sister, Cindy Hastings, after the verdict was returned. Ms. Hastings testified as a witness in the case and sat through the remainder of the trial.

“Thirty-eight years is a long time, but finally it's here,” she said.

“Isn't it wonderful, Sis?” asked Sheila Secord, another sibling, as she gave Ms. Hastings a tearful hug.

Mr. Dame, who had previously dated Ms. Provost, became a suspect in the case almost at the outset of the police investigation, but was not charged until 2006, after forensic testing linked him to the killing.

Police observed scratches on Mr. Dame's left cheek when they questioned and photographed him the day Ms. Provost's partially clad body was found on her bed in a bedroom she shared with her 3-year-old son, Nelson Provost III. Her head had been forced between the headboard and mattress and her throat had been slit, cutting her carotid arteries and jugular veins, according to testimony.

Ms. Provost was separated from her husband, Nelson Provost Jr., when she was killed. Assistant District Attorney Joseph A. Quinlan, who prosecuted the case, contended that Mr. Dame broke into Ms. Provost's apartment with the intention of sexually assaulting her, then attacked her with a knife that was never recovered by police.

Mr. Quinlan told the jury during his closing argument that Ms. Provost scratched Mr. Dame's face during the attack.

Mr. Dame, of 100 St. Camile St., Fitchburg, testified in his own defense, telling the jury he was at the home of his late sister, Thersa LaPlume, the night Ms. Provost was killed. He said the scratches on his face were inflicted by his niece as he was tickling her.

Lawyer John H. LaChance represented the defendant.

“Justice was achieved in this case through the perseverance of the family and police,” District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr. said in a prepared statement released after the verdict.

“These cases are never closed. Hard work, science and an unyielding assistant district attorney helped produce the outcome,” he said.